Roasted Chicken w/Limas, Corn, Dumplings & Tomatoes

Roasted Chicken w/Limas, Corn, Dumplings & Tomatoes

I am a girl who is country at heart and loves COMFORT FOOD! I was born and raised in the country, now I live in a Metropolitan area; I’m STILL COUNTRY! You can take the girl out of the country, but you can’t take the country out of the girl! Anyone who KNOWS me KNOWS I LOVE a good bowl of beans (homemade, soaked overnight, not those canned beans) and dumplings (I prefer these homemade too, but with kids I just used canned biscuits or frozen dumplings).

So when my cravings for beans and dumplings kick in to overdrive, I make this simple recipe here: Roasted Chicken w/Limas, Corn, Dumplings & Tomatoes. This is one of my favorite things to eat. So I will post the ingredients and recipe below, but I must forewarn you I don’t measure seasonings!

I’m reminded of a time I saw this meme on Instagram that described me perfectly! It said Black people don’t measure seasonings, we just sprinkle & shake until we hear the spirits of our ancestors whisper “enough my child” Yup! That’s me! I sprinkle and shake until I hear the whisper! LOL!

Ingredients:

1 4-5 pound whole chicken (remove the neck and giblets, the giblets can be saved to make giblet gravy..YUM!)

2 packs of Goya seasoning

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Ground Black Pepper

Sea Salt

2 Chicken bullion cubes

Mrs. Dash (Garlic & Herb)

1/2 cup of flour

1 16 oz. bag of dry limas (these must be soaked for a few hours or overnight) or 1 16 oz. bag of frozen limas

1 can of corn (I prefer low sodium)

1 can of diced tomatoes

1 package of Anne’s Old Fashion Dumplings

Olive Oil

2 cups water

2 cups of chicken broth

A roasting pan & lid or 9 x 13 pan and foil

Soup pot or large pot of some sort

Directions:

CLEAN the chicken! I usually do this by soaking my chicken in sea salt and lemon juice. I believe the lemon juice helps to cut bacteria but also adds flavor, while cleaning please be sure to reach in the cavity of the chicken and remove the bag of giblets and the neck! You may wonder, why did she have to tell us to do this extra part….wellllllllll I was having dinner somewhere this one time and lets just say, the cook didn’t reach into the cavity of the chicken. While you are cleaning your chicken preheat your oven at 350 degrees.

Peel the skin away from the meat of the chicken (don’t discard it, you will be covering the meat up again) and season the chicken with garlic powder, onion powder, Mrs. Dash, black pepper, sea salt (I don’t use a lot of salt, so I just sprinkle this lightly), and one packet of goya. In That Order! Make sure to season inside the cavity as well.

Place the skin back over the seasoned chicken. Coat the chicken skin (I mean make sure the entire chicken is COATED) with olive oil and season again with the same listed ingredients and the other packet of Goya! The reason you season the chicken UNDER the skin first is because it soaks into the meat of the chicken and gives it so much flavor. Seasoning the skin after you have seasoned the meat helps for added flavor, because the juices that run from the chicken to the bottom of your pan will be used to baste the chicken and later added to your pot of limas, dumplings, and corn.

Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of your pan and pour 1 cup of water in the bottom of your pan and 1/2 cup of chicken broth in the bottom. Place your chicken in the pan, breast side DOWN (this helps to keep it moist as the juices drain downward while cooking) and cover it. Cook on 350 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. At the mid way point baste your chicken and cook for the remaining time. Fifteen minutes before your chicken is done baste again.

30 minutes before the chicken is done cooking start your other fixings. Place the remaining cup of water and 1/2 cup of chicken broth in the pot. Season with black pepper and the bullion cubes. Bring to a boil. Remove your dumplings from the freezer and break them up into edible sized pieces. Dip them in flour and drop in the boiling water. Cook until tender. If you used dry limas, rinse them and add them now as well. Cook until tender as well. Add your corn and tomatoes 10-15 minutes before the chicken is done.

Once the chicken is done, let it cool some, pull apart, add to your pot of limas, corn, and dumplings. Take the broth from the bottom of the chicken pan and add to your pot as well. Stir! Serve! Eat! and Enjoy! (The pic above is the finished product)!